Corruption

Corruption.The Phoenix that rebirthed humanity in small figure was not discriminating in its distribution of the seeds of man's legacy. Some who received the gift were unkind, power-hungry, filled with anger or hatred. These, in their combing of the landscape, found the embrace of St. George, and came out the other side changed. Some were ill-equipped to survive, and fell to the overwhelming odds set against them. St. George devours these when it finds them, and the unlucky ones are regurgitated whole - perhaps "whole" is not the right word, though, given the condition they come out in. And some were simply too weak, and were eaten alive by the soul-storm at the same moment they were reborn.

Whatever the reason, not all of the seeds walking the world remember humanity in the same way the others do. Some of them remember only the dark legacy of man - cruelty, callousness, hatred. Regular seeds are still human and thus still capable of these things, but the seeds touched by St. George have been turned inside out and had a second seed planted inside them to blossom black and crooked. It is their nature.

Distortion.Corrupted seeds are touched by the black majesty of St. George, and receive its "blessing" in the form of Distorted Reflections. Any preexisting Reflection may be Distorted so long as it does not perform any healing function or otherwise better the world or the things in it; the Distortion is a black fire that burns away all it touches. The fire stokes the memory of hatred, strengthening the Reflection: any Distorted Reflection may exhibit powers and efficacy as if it were a normal Reflection with a rating one dot higher. For example, the ability to conjure vicious balefire, an aggravated-damage spirit-flame, would be a four-dot Reflection. However, a corrupted seed could instead take the exact same power as a three-dot Distorted Reflection. The use of a Distorted Reflection betrays its destructive influence outwardly in some way; a sorrowful timbre, a fire that burns especially wild and dangerous, claws that are unusually wicked and serrated.

On character generation, or at the moment of corruption, corrupted seeds are given the option of making up to three of their suitable Reflections into Distorted Reflections. This costs them nothing, and effectively gives them an extra "phantom dot" in each chosen Reflection. Healing, purifying, or self-enhancing Reflections cannot be Distorted; to do so would alter their very nature and effect. There is no penalty for declining these Distortions. Corrupted seeds may also continue to buy ordinary, non-Distorted Reflections after character generation or the moment of corruption with experience points, as normal, also at no penalty.

One may not take a Distorted version of a one-dot Reflection. There is no such thing as a zero-dot Distorted Reflection.

Degeneration.Distortion is a corrupt fire that burns at everything it touches; this includes the corrupted seed wielding it. At character generation or the moment of corruption, a corrupted seed must take an extra dot of Throwback in addition to any that may be preexisting or already demanded by character generation. This dot may be placed in an existing Throwback to make it more severe, or become a separate Throwback of its own. This Throwback is inescapable; declining even all three free Distortions does not excuse a character from taking it. It is the outer expression of the the ravaging which a trip through St. George works on a person's inner being.

After character generation or the moment of corruption, a corrupted seed may continue to take new Distorted Reflections at the same experience price of a normal Reflection of the same dot rating, effectively getting one of the Reflection's dots free of cost. Unlike the first dark blessing of St. George, however, this power has a hidden price. Amassing this much Distortion begins to further eat away at the character from inside, and they become bonded too tightly to the destructive id of their corrupted seed. For every two Distorted Reflections purchased with experience points, the character suffers an additional dot of Throwback. The power which Distortion has to offer is seductive in its purview, but all things have their price.